A new low? Bought a charging cable for my car phone yesterday. Cost a stinkin' $14.99. Radio Shack clerk pointed out that for about $2 more I could insure it for a year. Feeling utterly recklessness, I turned him down.

Started to ask whether that insurance would continue somehow in the event of their bankruptcy... RSH shares closed yesterday at $1.12, the low for the year.

Radio Shack is expected to not last the year.So, cherish this Radio Shack power cord, you may never be able to get another one quite like it.The quality! the brand! the reputation! the fact that you have to BUY a one year warranty?!

Do you know if the RS Maintenance contract covers replacement handles for their new carry out shopping bags? One of mine failed on the way home after buying a rechargeable battery(obviously overcharged). Before you ask, yes I tried to call them on the land line and no answer ( I don't own a cell phone), can't drive back since my Chevy Cobalt's ignition switch went all to hell and I can't start it, would walk but have diabetes related foot problems due to a GMO food diet. I wasn't sure if I should post this here or under the other Forum Topic " Ham Radio BS".

Although I am normally not a fan of maintenance/service contracts, the cheap one for a cable or charger is actually not a bad idea. How long do you think a car charger will last before the cable breaks, or someone slams it in the car door, or drives over it. My son buys earbuds at RS and gets the the contract. He runs everyday and is very hard on them he gets 2 or 3 replacements per year. Maybe that's why they are going out of business.

I've never bought a maintenance contract for ANYTHING is my life. They're almost always gold mines for the seller (and the store clerk who sells it) and a stinking deal for the buyer. Third party contracts are often outright frauds. With electronics, many defects show themselves early on while the product is covered anyway. Our house is filled with ancient gizmos that I wish WOULD break... like our main TV which is still a CRT job from 20 years ago.

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My son buys earbuds at RS and gets the the contract. He runs everyday and is very hard on them he gets 2 or 3 replacements per year.

Sears wants to sell you a maintenance contract before you buy anything..... It's my understanding that they make more money on these rip-offs than the stuff they sell!

Many years ago, when I was starting a family and stocking my workshop, I bought mostly Sears stuff. I also bought maintenance contracts (pay by the month) simply because I could make a maintenance contact payment but couldn't afford a big bill for a maintenance call. I also didn't know any better.

This was also during the time of unfettered "solicitation phone calls." One day I got a call (unsolicited) from Sears Maintenance Agreements asking me to buy an agreement for the last item that I had bought. I had wised up at this point and didn't buy an agreement at the store.

I asked her if she had all of my Sears Agreements on her computer screen and she replied, "Yes."

I said, "That's great! I'm happy that you called." She said, "Yessir, I have them all here on the screen." I could almost see her brighten up and count her paycheck.

I then said, "I want you to cancel all of them and I certainly don't want an Agreement on this last item!"

The only thing I could hear on the phone for several seconds was a slight choking. When I hung up the phone I felt like a guy just getting out of jail. Or perhaps more accurately, a stupid person realizing that they had learned something very significant.

A couple of years ago RS was selling refurbished ROKU streaming media boxes but they did not come with an HDMI cable so I had to buy one. Sure enough, the guy asked me if I wanted a maintenance contract for the $10 cable! I thanked him politely and said that I was willing to roll the dice and take my chances since I was just going to plug it in and most likely never unplug it again.

Scott N0IU said: "the guy asked me if I wanted a maintenance contract for the $10 cable!" Okay, that breaks my record.

The few crooks I've personally known have been efficient. No muggers or bank robbers. No pikers. With insurance scams a huge pool of funds is collected long before it's needed to pay obligations. Ponzi and Madoff understood the attraction there.

Here's an old acquaintance of mine who made national news. HUNDREDS of Millions in prepaid burial insurance funds disappeared. The main victims were usually poor and always dead!

Generally the insurance industry is heavily regulated but burial insurance fell between the cracks. Another example of insurance that's a magnet for abuse.

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